Monday, February 27, 2012

After a long day twelve hours on Saturday we managed to get the great room and hallway flooring finished. Sunday we did the trim work, polished/waxed the floor and replaced the heating vents. The project took quite a bit longer than what we planned. Some of the old flooring had been glued down and was rather difficult to remove. Plus the fifty gazillion staples that needed to be pulled up didn't help matters. What does help and is awesome, is Tylenol and lots of it!

That's Roper in the big chair on the left. He supervised us this weekend and made sure everything was square and layed down correctly.

We did a bit of redecorating with the furniture. The room seems more spacious and we both really like facing the tv rather than having it in between the windows. The little black fuzzy guy under the window on the right is Kiwi our house bunny. He is litter box trained and really cool.

The plan is to put the new floor in our bedroom this weekend. It's a smaller area with less cutting (we hope) and should go a bit faster. It's a lot of work, but we are saving a ton of money by doing it ourselves. Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself. Saving money on labor means more yarn money. Yeah that's the ticket!

Friday, February 24, 2012

My goal this January was to card and spin the Jacob fleece that I purchased two years ago at Maryland Sheep & Wool. It was a small fleece, just two pounds before scouring. It was really fine with a short staple of about 1 1/2 - 2" and had little grease/lanolin. One of the volunteers working the fleece sale helped me and told me that she thought this was most likely a lamb's fleece. While it's not quite as soft as merino, it's pretty darn close.

Andy helped me do a bit of the carding when my arm got tired from cranking the drum carder. It was a fun challenge during January and helped to keep the winter dull drums at bay. I wound up with a total of 1,005 yards of a nice worsted weight. Enough I hope for a short sleeved sweater.

In the middle of spinning the Jacob fleece I got a note from my friend Jamee' asking me to do some spinning for her. She and her mom Joyce have llamas, goats and sheep. Joyce's farm is Posy Thisisit Llamas. I always love it when they ask me to spin! So far Ive spun up a total of 2,204 yards of worsted weight yarn for them. Just in February! It's really helping to keep my legs in shape too which is a nice added benefit.

Bobbins of plied yarn waiting to be skeined. This fiber came from Ivy Lace, Jamee's llama. It's a beautiful oatmeal color.

Skeins of the same yarn waiting to be washed.

Im taking this weekend off from work so Andy and I can install a new floor in our great room, hallway and bedrooms. That doesn't really sound like time off...

Here is a before picture:

The carpet doesn't look bad from a distance. Up close is another story.

Monday, February 20, 2012

It seemed like winter never really arrived in Virginia this year. Daffodills had started to bloom and I noticed that a few redbud tree's had started to get little buds on them. When we heard the forecast for snow yesterday Andy and I chuckled a bit. Well it turns out the joke was on us. We had a little over eight inches of snow yesterday. It's the kind that sparkles like glitter in the sun which is my favorite.

When I lived in Maine I couldn't wait for winter to be over. Some winters there is so much snow that it is overwhelming. We had 99 - ninety nine - inches of snow the last year I lived there. All the shoveling, plowing, and snow blowing became very tiresome to say the least. Living in Virginia has been a refreshing experience. Businesses and schools shut down at the near mention what would be considered flurries in Maine. Grocery stores get wiped out of bread, milk and eggs before a storm so a little planning is helpful if you know that snow is coming. A few people who are native to the area have said to me that the snow here is much worse than what comes down in Maine. They have the impression that snow in Maine is light and fluffy and pretty much what you would see in a holiday movie. That ice storms just don't happen that far north. I can tell you from first hand experience that there are ice storms and the snow in Maine is just as heavy as snow in Virginia. The snow in Maine doesn't melt in a day or two like it does here though. The ground there freezes to the density of granite which helps keep the snow around for the entire winter.

Im going to enjoy the snow here while it lasts and be thankful that it will be gone in a day or two.

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About Me

My husband and I live in Central Virginia with the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop for our home. We spend most of our free time together and I feel very fortunate that Im married to my best friend.
I started designing and writing patterns as a way to express my love for the beautiful yarns that find their way into my stash. I love being able to create a new design for a special yarn. I hope that you will enjoy knitting my patterns as much as I have enjoyed designing them.
Follow me on my Facebook page - Lara Smoot - Designs for pattern release dates and sneak peeks at what I’m working on.